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| Tobacco ad symbolizing the nature of Africa |
Does this ad seem racist to you?
South Korea's largest tobacco company, KP&G promoted a new cigarette that featured pictures of monkeys, declaring "Africa is coming."
These advertisements were displayed at convenience stores across the country, and it marked successful sales at first, yet soon it was terribly criticized all over the world, as a racist advertisement.
The African tobacco Control Alliance view this ad as "at a minimum, culturally insensitive".
KP&G already pulled this ad immediately and they admitted this ad was "regrettable", but the cigarette package image still remains.
Tobacco ads often become the center of criticism in many ways.
It is a global standard for tobacco ads to mention "tobacco harms people" and clearly state what side-effects smokers will have. They even include disturbing photos.
Globally, we expect tobacco ads to be extremely conservative, because they are trying to sell poison to us.
However, tobacco is one of the most popular soft drugs in history, and their sales hugely contribute to our tax revenue.
In the future, we will eliminate tobacco for sure, but it might take more time than you think because it is a complicated social problem with many stakeholders.
Furthermore, as electronic cigarettes become more popular, it is reasonable to imagine that the government will try to charge a tax for electronic cigarettes. Especially if they find any risks of using electronic cigarettes.
More information on this South Korea Tobacco ad, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/racist-monkey-ad-the-africa_n_4156053.html
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